Scarlets sunk by Munster

Munster moved to the top of Pool Five with a 29-16 success at Stradey Park, ending Llanelli Scarlets' European dreams in the process.

Skipper Ronan O'Gara kicked 19 points, including converting tries from David Wallace and Marcus Horan, to help his side reign in the heavy rain.

The result was also sweet revenge for their quarter-final defeat to the same opponents last season, while also being their first success at the venue in five years.

Knowing only a victory would keep their hopes of qualification alive, the Scarlets battled hard - even scoring the opening try through Regan King.

But they were to be undone by their own lack of discipline, O'Gara making them pay with a perfect kicking performance despite the bad weather.

Early lead

The Irish fly-half slotted over two early penalties to put his side into a lead before they then found themselves down to 14 men.

Lifiemi Mafi chased back brilliantly to deny Dwayne Peel a try but was then penalised for holding on, allowing Rhys Priestland, standing in at 10 for the injured Stephen Jones, to kick the Scarlets' first points and meaning 10 minutes in the sin-bin for the Munster man.

With the man advantage the hosts scored an excellent try. Mark Jones capitalised on a poor clearing kick to out-pace three players before handing on to Gavin Evans, who sent the ball out to King to slide in at the right corner.

Priestland converted to put the Scarlets in front for the first time, though their lead did not last for long as within eight minutes O'Gara had kicked Munster 12-10 in front.

His second penalty of the pair followed the sin-binning of Jones and, now a man light, the Scarlets leaked a crucial try before half time.

Peter Stringer's smart piece of thinking to take a quick line-out deep inside the opposition's 22 allowed David Wallace an easy run-in that also left a simple conversion for O'Gara.

A fifth penalty made it 22-10 at the break, a lead that proved more than enough as the second half was ruined by heavy rain that turned the pitch into a boggy mess.

Hope

Priestland gave the Scarlets a glimmer of hope in the gloomy conditions with two penalties in between a break in play for a torrential hailstorm.

However, Deacon Manu was sin-binned for a punch off the ball, ending the Welsh side's chances of a rousing late comeback.

Munster's pack took over after that, prop Horan finishing off a long spell of possession by driving over close to the line for the killer try.

Fittingly O'Gara added the extras to complete an excellent night for both himself and his team as the Scarlets suffered a third straight defeat in this year's competition, leaving them with nothing but pride to play for.